Fostering leadership, creativity and expression at Te Rito Harakeke - Marshland School

Kia ora e te whānau 

Once again, this fortnightly newsletter has filled me with great pride as our wonderful Learning Hubs showcase an aspect of their teaching and learning programme with you all. 

It is wonderful to see a balance of learning across the curriculum in these newsletter posts, with this particular example including science, maths, literacy, P.E., technology and student leadership. I love looking back at previous newsletters on our school website to revisit some quality teaching and learning examples exemplified for our school. 

Our tamariki thoroughly enjoyed the school disco on Friday night, and we experienced some spectacular dance moves and creative dress-ups! I want to take the opportunity to thank our Parent Community Group (PCG) for their organisation and supervision of Friday's fun disco event. I would also like to acknowledge our supportive team of staff who came along to share in the fun. 

It's been a week of excitement for our student kaihautū (senior student leaders), who engaged with Reuben Davidson (MP for Christchurch East) and attended the National Young Leaders Day. 

The National Young Leaders event involved a range of impressive speakers giving important messages to our student kaihautū. The speakers included:

• Brooke Neal - Former NZ hockey player and founder of 'All About Balance'

• William Pike - Kiwi explorer, inspirational speaker and director of the William Pike Challenge. 

• Te Kahukura Boynton - Entrepreneur 

• Nate Wilborne - Conservation and climate justice advocate and founder of 'Gen-Z Aotearoa)

• YAHYAH - Musician, and 

• Klanksy - Artist

Throughout this exciting day, our young leaders engaged in insightful discussions and activities, gaining invaluable insights into effective leadership practices and strategies to support them in the future. 

Our student kaihautū shared some of their insights with us, such as, "You are never too young to create change, use your skills to your advantage, believe in yourself and keep pushing because better never stops" (Samar, Kushal, Cody, Vishruth, and Alex). I particularly like the comments identified by Samar from this event, "There is always a solution, and don't let negative thoughts overtake you". 

Last week another group of senior students engaged with our mural artists, Reuben Wood and Nick Lowry, to begin creating the school mural to reflect our cultural narrative, school name and learning hubs. We have been engaging with representatives from Ngāi Tūhāhuriri rūnanga to ensure our final work reflects a Te Ao Māori perspective. 

This art draws on the wonderful work our tamariki developed at the end of Term 1 and will be fixed on the exterior wall at the end of the Kiwi Learning Space. 

We are really enjoying this creative process and can't wait to share the final product with you. The goal is for this to be completed by the Matariki school community event on Wednesday, June 26th, 6:00 pm—7:00 pm. However, as this art is largely developed outdoors and is weather-dependent, the completion date may need to be reviewed closer to the time. 

Ngā mihi nui 

Leigh Fowler